Zoey

I let out a breath. He seemed to believe me. But there was one thing that Carter Grayson wasn’t, and that was stupid. I could trust him to tell him about my past, but he wasn’t ready to hear it, so it was best to keep my mouth shut, at least for now.

Carter pulled up to the valet at the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa. A nice young gentleman wearing square-rimmed glasses took our bags from the car and set them on the ground. Grabbing mine, I headed through the double doors that were being held open by another nice young man with a genuine smile.

“Good day, Miss.” He tipped his hat.

“Good day.” I smiled.

Carter said hello and I followed him up to the reservations desk.

“How may I help you, sir?” The cute brunette behind the desk smiled brightly.

“Reservation for Carter Grayson.”

“I’ll just need your driver’s license and credit card.” She grinned. “I see you’ve rented our one-bedroom cottage.”

“Like I had a choice,” he spoke with a slight attitude. “It’s the only thing you had available.”

“I’m sorry about that, Mr. Grayson. It’s one of our busiest times of the year. But I can promise you that you’ll love it. Our cottages are so cozy and the view of the lake is amazing. Plus, you’re only a couple of steps away from the beach.”

“As nice as that sounds, it’s only a one-bedroom.”

The cute brunette looked over at me in confusion.

“We aren’t dating or anything. In fact, I don’t even think we’re friends, so he’s uncomfortable with the fact that there’s only one bed,” I spoke.

Carter glanced at me with furrowed brows.

“Oh,” the cute brunette spoke. “The couch is very comfortable.”

 “Just give us the keys, please,” Carter spoke to her.

“Of course, Mr. Grayson. I’ll have Miguel, our bellhop, take your bags and show you the way. Your cottage is on the lower level, so it does feature a half bath as well.”

“Wow. It sounds better already,” he spoke in a sarcastic tone.

As soon as she handed him the keys, Carter walked away without as so much as a thank you.

“I’m so sorry,” I spoke to her. “His sister just passed away and he’s having a hard time.”

“I understand. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“I know I will. Him, I’m not so sure.” I gave her a small smile and followed him and Miguel, the bellhop, to cottage number three.

As soon as we stepped inside the cottage, Miguel set our bags down and Carter handed him a tip.

“This is so cute.” I smiled as I looked around.

“If you say so,” Carter spoke in a rude manner. “Why did you say all that to the girl at the desk?”

“Because she needed to know why you were being so rude. It’s not her fault they only had this one-bedroom cottage available. In fact, you should be thankful that we even got this. Anyway, I will take the couch tonight.”

“No. I’ll take the couch. You can have the bed. What kind of man would I be making a woman sleep on the couch?”

The pain that radiated through my body as I bit down hard on my tongue jolted through me. Oh, the things I could have said to him. But I didn’t.

“You paid for the room, Carter. It’s only right I take the couch and you take the bed.”

“This discussion is over. Understand? I’m taking the couch.”

“Suit yourself.” I put my hands up. “Wow, look at this view.” I smiled as I walked over to the window.

Carter followed and stood next to me with his hands tucked into his pants pockets.

“It’s nice. I can see why Nora wanted some of her ashes scattered here. Are you hungry? We can head to dinner.”

“That sounds good.”

We went up to the Lone Eagle Grill where Carter ordered the filet and I ordered the roasted chicken. Before our food was even ready, he had already downed two scotches compared to my one glass of wine.

“They have a casino downstairs. How about we go check it out after dinner?”

“I would like that, but how about you call some hotels and make reservations.” I smirked.

“Shit. I didn’t do that yet, did I?” He pulled his phone from his pocket and began searching hotels. “We can stay inside the park at one of these horrific hotels or stay in Sedona at a nice hotel and then drive a hundred miles to the Grand Canyon.”

“That’s about an hour and a half,” I spoke.

“I really don’t want to drive another hour and a half, scatter her ashes, and then drive nineteen hours to Seattle. Fuck!”

“I’ll drive to the Grand Canyon,” I spoke.

He glanced up from his phone and shot me a look of disapproval. The waitress came over and set our plates down in front of us.

“Enjoy your dinner.” She smiled. “May I get you another drink, sir?”

“Yes, please,” Carter spoke.

“If we scatter Nora’s ashes here tomorrow morning around eight, we can be on the road by nine,” I spoke.

“What’s your point, Zoey?”

“By time we get to the Grand Canyon, it’ll be at least nine p.m. and we’ll both be exhausted, so we won’t have time to think about how crappy the hotel is because we’ll go right to bed.”

“Crappy hotels equal crappy, uncomfortable beds. If I’m driving twelve hours, then I want to make sure the bed is comfortable.”

“Okay. Then book a hotel in Sedona and stop complaining,” I spewed as I took a bite of my chicken.

“Fine. I will.” He glared at me.

“In fact, maybe we should just stay two nights.”

“What? Why the hell would we do that?” His brow arched.

“Because you’re already going to be tired from driving twelve hours, and then you’re going to drive another nineteen or even twenty the next day? I know that I’ll need a break from the car, at least for a day. I think if we’re stuck together in the car all that time, we’ll end up killing each other.” I smirked.

“No. We’re only staying one night.” He took a bite of his filet. “And as for the possibility of killing each other, we’ll make some stops along the way and give each other a break.”

“Okay. If you say so. But, it’s going to take us a lot longer to get to Seattle.”

After calling a few hotels with no luck, Carter finally was able to book a two-bedroom suite at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona.

“Thank God,” he sighed.

“I like the name.” I smiled. “It sounds like a fairytale place.”

“I’ll only consider it a fairytale place if the bed is comfortable. Which, for the price it’s costing me for one night, it better be.”

I gave him a small smile and finished my dinner. Before paying the bill, Carter had one more scotch.

“I think we should head back to the cottage,” he spoke. “Forget the casino.”

“Good idea. I’m exhausted anyway.”

When we got back to the cottage, Carter let me use the bathroom first to get ready for bed since the half bath light was burnt out. After changing into my nightshirt, I grabbed a blanket from the closet and a pillow and took it to the couch.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’ve decided that I’m taking the couch and I don’t want to hear a word about it. You drove all day and we have a very long drive tomorrow. So I want you to get a good night’s sleep.”

“I don’t give a damn what you want, Zoey. I’m taking the couch. I thought we had an understanding.”

“You thought we had an understanding, Mr. Grayson. I’m taking the couch. End of discussion.”

He took a few steps closer to me and grabbed hold of the blanket in my hand. I pulled back and before I knew it, we were playing tug of war.

“I’m taking the couch, Zoey.” He pulled harder. “And don’t take that tone with me.”

“No, you’re not, and I will take any tone I please. From now on, I will treat you with the same respect you treat me!”

He stopped pulling the blanket and his eyes burned into mine. He reached over and softly brushed his thumb over my lips. Shivers ran down my spine and my lips started to tremble. I swallowed hard, for I knew what was to come next. He leaned in and lightly pressed his mouth to mine. Our lips intertwined, and suddenly, everything bad about him seemed to have disappeared. Our kiss deepened and our tongues danced in excitement. A subtle moan escaped him as his hands slightly pushed up my nightshirt and planted themselves firmly on my ass, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I need sex, Zoey,” he whispered as he broke our kiss. “I need it desperately.”

“Okay,” I softly spoke.

“It means absolutely nothing. I need you to understand that.”

“I do.”

His mouth smashed into mine as he picked me up, carried me to the bedroom, and then set me down in front of the bed.